Dutch Doorknobs & Treats

 

In April 2024, I was blessed to spend two weeks in Holland on a Viking riverboat cruise. Besides learning that Gouda cheese is “wunnerful,” I eagerly soaked up lots of Dutch history. Since many family historians find that they have a family line going back to the Netherlands (proper name of that little country), I thought I’d share some of the Dutch history bits that I learned.

 

Two major treats sold on the street were waffles (on left) but not like ANY waffle I'd ever seen. This pix shows 40 different toppings! All major "bombs" to your tummy for sure, but oh, so yummy. The other pix shows fries with mayonnaise; see the little top cup for the mayo? Everybody eats these so of course I had to try one. Made it through half of those fries. 

A very cute thing I noticed were the doorknobs. The one on the right is an apple and says "den gouden appel." So many homes had their front doors opening right onto the street so a doorknob was a must. (And a key.)

So ends the saga and snips of my trip to Amsterdam, Holland..... or more properly, the Netherlands. Hope you enjoyed my sharings.

Dutch Chocolate

In April 2024, I was blessed to spend two weeks in Holland on a Viking riverboat cruise. Besides learning that Gouda cheese is “wunnerful,” I eagerly soaked up lots of Dutch history. Since many family historians find that they have a family line going back to the Netherlands (proper name of that little country), I thought I’d share some of the Dutch history bits that I learned.

 

So what's the big deal about Dutch chocolate? 

Well, Dutch-processed cocoa powder is also referred to as Dutched Chocolate, is made from beans that have been washed with an alkaline solution that neutralizes that natural acidity and gives the chocolate a darker color and smoother, softer flavor.

The Dutch are known for their chocolate. The Netherlands was the first country to mass produce cocoa powder used for making chocolate drinks and baking and chocolate bares. 

There were dedicated chocolate shops everywhere and every tourist shop also carried packaged chocolate. I was surrounded by chocolate goodness!! 

While yes, I certainly did bring some Dutch chocolate home, I found a website that sells the real thing:  www.realdutchchocolate.com.  You can purchase milk chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate with hazelnuts or licorice. Go for it!

If that doesn't ring your bell, know this: the consensus is that YES, dark chocolate is by far the healthiest form of the treat, containing the least sugar and because of its cocoa content, it has higher levels of substances that protect the body's cells. 

The price for that one-pound chocolate shoe? About $5.00...... it was pretty much 1-for-1 when I was there. Notice how they mark it 4,95 and we mark it 4.95.  And no, I did not get one. 

TIDBIT ON WOODEN SHOES:  They were made from willow wood which held up better to the mostly-constantly-wet ground. 

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Tilted Houses?

 

In April 2024, I was blessed to spend two weeks in Holland on a Viking riverboat cruise. Besides learning that Gouda cheese is “wunnerful,” I eagerly soaked up lots of Dutch history. Since many family historians find that they have a family line going back to the Netherlands (proper name of that little country), I thought I’d share some of the Dutch history bits that I learned.

After noting the houseboats and the bicycles, look closely at the houses. This was called "the laughing row" because the buildings tilt to one side! And why? Because they are centuries old and because the ground is soft. Not all structures tilt, to be sure, but the ones that did surely did catch my eye. 

Which is straight, the trees or the house??????

I quite longed to go inside one of these "leaning houses" and see how they cope. Do the floors slant? 

While I surely did admire all the ancient old buildings, churches and government buildings, to me they all did need sand-blast-cleaning (inside and out). Centuries of grime shadowed their splendor. 

Bicycles Everywhere!

 

In April 2024, I was blessed to spend two weeks in Holland on a Viking riverboat cruise. Besides learning that Gouda cheese is “wunnerful,” I eagerly soaked up lots of Dutch history. Since many family historians find that they have a family line going back to the Netherlands (proper name of that little country), I thought I’d share some of the Dutch history bits that I learned.

Yes, bicycles are EVERYWHERE. We were told that there are about 18,000,000 people in Holland and at least 25,000,000 bikes. Our guide quipped, "I have three!" Bikes have the right-of-way, not pedestrians. We were constantly told to watch out where we were walking!! 

Some bikes are super fancied-up (note the "oog-gga" horn) and some are modified to carry small children or old folks. We were also told, with a big smile, that if you were angry with your wife or boyfriend, you'd push their bike into the canal! That must be true, he said, for every year they haul out hundreds of bikes from the canals. 

We were also taught that there are NO school buses in Holland. The children ride their bikes to school...... up to an hour each way!!!  And it rains over 200 days per year!! No sissies there for sure. And with all that bike riding, the only chubby folks I saw were the tourists. 

Would you or I be up to riding a bike every day, everywhere?????

Gouda, Edam, It's All Yummy

 In April 2024, I was blessed to spend two weeks in Holland on a Viking riverboat cruise. Besides learning that Gouda cheese is “wunnerful,” I eagerly soaked up lots of Dutch history. Since many family historians find that they have a family line going back to the Netherlands (proper name of that little country), I thought I’d share some of the Dutch history bits that I learned.

The Dutch are known for their cheese, or kaas, as they say. In some towns, the cheese trade dates back to the 1300s. Today, this country is the largest cheese exporter in the world. 

We toured a cheese factory...... tour started with meeting the cows all happily munching in their stalls. Holland's low, flat rich soil, kissed by a salty sea wind, produces grass most healthy for cows..... which produce much milk. Legally, cheese farmers/factories can only have a certain number of cows to graze the land allotted to them. After seeing the adults, we got to meet a 10-day old calf..... her pink muzzle was so darn cute. (Females are kept for milk production; males are sent to become hamburger.) 

Here I am with a 20# wheel of Gouda. I learned that there is young Gouda (less than six months), perfect for sandwiches, and mature Gouda, best for eating as cubes to dip in mustard. Wrapped in paraffin wax for export, cheeses do not spoil but they do become harder and saltier. Edam is a close favorite cheese, best eaten as a snack with apples or pears. 

In days gone by, cheese makers delivered their product to the town square on market day either by horse cart or canal boat. Known as kaasdragers, they carried up to 300 pounds of cheese to the buyers' stalls. Buyers would purchase a slice of a wheel..... that's why you see deli cheeses cut in wedges in stores today.

Have you had your cheese today? REAL cheese, not those plastic-wrapped slices. :-) 

Windmills Save Holland

 

In April 2024, I was blessed to spend two weeks in Holland on a Viking riverboat cruise. Besides learning that Gouda cheese is “wunnerful,” I eagerly soaked up lots of Dutch history. Since many family historians find that they have a family line going back to the Netherlands (proper name of that little country), I thought I’d share some of the Dutch history bits that I learned.

I learned that over half of this little flat country, right on the North Atlantic, would be underwater if the windmills (and modern pumping stations) didn't keep pumping. I was told that with rising ocean levels and glacial melting increasing the rivers' flow through Holland, it's a constant battle of man against nature.

I heard this wag more than once:  "God made the world but the Dutch made Holland." The industrious Dutch constructed dykes and dams and pumped the water out (into the ocean) and the resulting polders provided rich farmland for a growing vegetables (and tulips!) for a growing population. 

The original windmills had a keeper-miller who lived in the base of the tower with his family. He needed to be a good judge of weather. It was his job to keep the blades turning, and the water pumping, but not endanger the structure. The top of the structure rotated as needed by hand to get the blades in best wind-catching position. 

I visited a restored windmill and was amazed at the strength and work it took to move those big wooden blades into position, often several times in a 24-hour period. 

Windmills were not invented until the 1700s and didn't come into widespread use until into the 1800s......... before this time, when much of Holland was flat, mushy land, the cities were confined to higher points where they could be found. Before windmills, the early inhabitants built dykes to keep the water from their homes. (Amster was the town began on the Amster's Dyke.) 

Fascinating topic; one could read a big book and not learn all there is to know about Dutch windmills.

Talking Tulips

 

In April 2024, I was blessed to spend two weeks in Holland on a Viking riverboat cruise. Besides learning that Gouda cheese is “wunnerful,” I eagerly soaked up lots of Dutch history. Since many family historians find that they have a family line going back to the Netherlands (proper name of that little country), I thought I’d share some of the Dutch history bits that I learned.

I learned that tulips did not originate in Holland but in Turkey (Persia than). The word tulip is the Persian word for "turban." Some thought tulips looked like turbans.

Tulips were first introduced into Europe and Holland in the 1550s as a gift from the Ottoman Emperor.  The Dutch went crazy for tulips; the waxy flower became so wildly popular that an economy of trading known as "tulip mania" exploded overnight. At the peak of tulip mania, some SINGLE bulbs sold for more than ten times the annual income of a skilled craftsman! 

At first tulips were mono-colored but about 1600 a non-fatal virus caused mutations that resulted in the splotched colored and curly leaves we love today. 

And would you have guessed that at first tulip bulbs were considered food? 

Cloud Thoughts

Approaching Spokane while flying home recently and having my nose glued to the window :-)  I got to thinking. ONE little puff of a cloud makes a nearly mile-square wide shadow on the ground. If you're under that cloud-shadow, you think it's a cloudy day. If you're not, then it's a sunny day. Yes, I know the cloud-shadow will move in a few minutes.

Apply this to life. A little puff of a cloud so often shrouds us in a dark shadow. And we're "there" before we realize what's happened in too many cases. We need to, we must, realize that the darkness WILL pass, driven away by the warmth and light of the sun moving away the cloud. 

Something to think about on a hot August summer day??